


are you a mermaid (cause you could be my wet dream)

by NoBloodNoCookie



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Josie's the hot life guard Penelope would like to drown in
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-03-26 15:33:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19008685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoBloodNoCookie/pseuds/NoBloodNoCookie
Summary: School’s out and all Penelope wants to do is go drink booze with her friends and flirt with all of the dull Mystic Falls High girls at the town diner.  What she didn’t plan for, however, was letting her stupid friends drag her to the community pool on the other side of town, where all of those Salvatore snobs go to for their summer. Nor did she expect to become so smitten with the beautiful, brunette lifeguard that worked there.Alternatively, Josie's a hot lifeguard and Penelope's a gay mess.





	1. exactly what shes always wanted

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic my very wonderfully talented friend wrote and is just using my account to post. I'm just the vessel of her greatness in this case. 
> 
> You can find her at @selfishpenelope on twitter and check out her hilarious social media AU while you're there!

It was the first week of summer break, with no more due dates, no more homework, no more tests. No more classes, and thank fucking god, no more shitty school drama. Senior year awaits in the fall, but Penelope had these perfect next three months to fool around with her friends, get drunk as much as possible, and maybe start a short fling or two. 

 

All in all, Penelope was ready to experience a great summer, one that had an agenda consisting of an easy rhythm to fall into until school started back up again. 

 

But apparently her cousin had different ideas. 

 

“You have officially ruined the start of my summer before senior year, and for that, I hate you.” Penelope grumbled and stopped on the sidewalk in front of a red bricked house. 

 

Jed chuckled. “Your dad’s right, P. You shouldn’t be running around, creating chaos around town then locking yourself up in your room after that. Live a little.”

 

“And you think I’ll be living my best life by going to the  _ community pool _ ?” She hissed back.

 

Her cousin rolled his eyes and proceeded to ignore her while walking up the front steps of the porch and pounded on the door. 

 

“Hurry the fuck up, Kaleb!”

 

Moments later, the door swung open and said boy greeted him with a chill “sup”. He noticed Penelope swaying impatiently in the yard a few paces behind Jed and snickered. “Somebody has a stick up their ass on this fine afternoon and we haven’t even made it to the pool yet.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

Kaleb laughed and him and Jed jogged to catch up to Penelope, who hadn’t bothered to wait for them and had already made it out of the yard. The boys flanked her sides and they continued trekking down the sidewalk to their destination. 

 

“Come on Peez. Lighten up.”

 

She glared at Kaleb. “ _ No. _ Because of you two idiots, now I have to haul my ass on a fifteen minute walk to the most awful place in this town. And it’s like a hundred degrees right now.”

 

“Perfect time to cool down with a nice swim.” Jed pointed out with an annoying grin. 

 

Penelope snorted. “I’d much rather cool down in the nice AC, indoors, where I most definitely wouldn’t have a chance to contract cholera.” Jed rolled his eyes at her dramatics and she swears she’s going to slap him every time he rolls his eyes at her again. “The pool’s probably like fifteen percent chlorine and eighty-five percent urine. And those losers from Salvatore will most likely be there. If I see that Ricky kid there, I  _ will _ punch his face. Again.”

 

“I think his name’s Rafael.”

 

“I frankly don’t care.”

 

They stopped in front of another house, this time a white-bricked two-story, and Jed sighed. “Go get Mikaelson.”

 

Penelope stuck her tongue out at him and before she could make another move, Hope Mikaelson had already slammed her door shut and practically skipped over to them. 

 

“Thanks for bailing me out. I really needed an excuse to get out of the house.”

 

“Well hello to you too.” Penelope eyed the swimsuit material peeking out from the collar of Hope’s shirt. “So did you bring the barely there bikini or the soccer mom sports suit?”

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Hope answered dryly and the group began their journey again. “Remind me again why we are going swimming on Salvatore territory? The pool’s probably gross as well.”

 

“Thank you! Finally, someone that has a brain!” Penelope chimed.

 

Kaleb adjusted his black aviators. “It’s not Salvatore territory. It’s the whole town’s, but everyone here’s too much of a wuss to face those cronies and use the damn pool. And not all Salvatore kids are bad. My friend MG is an alright dude and he goes there.”

 

“Yeah.” Jed added. “Salvatore people might be annoying as hell, but some of the girls that go there are h-o-t  _ hot _ .”

 

“They kinda are.” Hope agreed dreamily and Penelope scrunched her face at her with contempt. 

 

“I’m surrounded by more dicks than a curious teenager.” 

 

“Hey.” Hope swatted her arm. “We’re only going to be there for a couple hours and then we’ll go find some booze afterwards.”

 

Penelope huffed exasperatedly. “Fine.” 

 

Knowing her pride was at stake, she was even more determined to not enjoy their experience at all. Penelope brought a couple books with her and planned to wait out their time there. It’d only be a few boring hours in the sun, and sooner or later, she’ll be out of there in no time, and Penelope would leave the neighborhood pool with the satisfaction that she’ll never have to go back there ever again. 

 

Penelope’s nose scrunched up in displeasure as her and her friends made it to the front gate of the entrance. She heard the screams of laughter from little kids and could see from behind the fence the numerous clusters of people around the pool. 

 

As much as she liked going to parties, she’s never been one to enjoy lots of company. She hated crowds, and if a party got too crowded in one room, she’d always retreat to the far corner just to get some sort of space. 

 

The pool was really busy as far as she could tell, and Penelope really wasn’t looking forward to maneuvering around sweaty and wet bodies and drown out, pun intended, all of the excessive screaming from the kids. 

 

Kids are gross. 

 

She bet that there were a lot of people from Salvatore behind that gate, and even though she wasn’t the most popular at Mystic Falls High, some people from the rival school were familiar with her. 

 

Salvatore kids were straight-up annoying as fuck. A lot of them would crash Mystic Falls High parties just for the hell of it and barbarously interrupt the peaceful vibes. Frequently, several of the Salvatore “gifted and talented” assholes have attempted to initiate a few conversations with her, which only prompted her to leave the party prematurely and go somewhere secluded alone to drink, away from their hopeless advances. Penelope recalled the time when that one kid (Ricky or Rafael or whoever) began hitting on her at one party that resulted in her punching him the moment he put his hand on her ass. 

 

To keep away any unwanted attention, Penelope planned on minding her own business and reading her books, and no one from that god forsaken school better dare to come bother her in the next couple hours. 

 

They found a set of beach chair loungers to plop their bags and towels on. Penelope took her place on one of the loungers, watching her friends strip down to their bathing suits. Yeah, no. There was no point in her stripping out of her clothes since she was  _ not _ going anywhere near the water.

 

“You should come swimming with us, P.” Jed’s voice was muffled as he was taking off his shirt. “Can you try to let loose a little bit?”

 

She shook her head, plastering a fake turtle smile on her face. “Jed, no. Look it’s nice that you wanted some cousin bonding time, but I  _ actually _ don’t wanna be here. So you go have fun, and I’m fine waiting however long you want stay before we leave, okay?”

 

“Suit yourself then.” Jed shrugged and then nudged Kaleb’s shoulder.

 

“You know where to find us, Peez.” Kaleb added before the two boys raced off towards the pool and Penelope chuckled when Hope shouted after them. 

 

“Stop running before you both slip on your asses!”

 

Hope observed them affectionately, the corner of her mouth betraying a small smile.

 

Meanwhile, not paying attention to the boys, Penelope smirked and unashamedly raked her eyes over her best friend’s body, covered by a striped two-piece. “Well, I see you’ve chosen the bikini. Feeling lucky today?”

 

Hope turned around to face her. She wiggled her eyebrows with a sly grin. “Might as well make this a productive experience. I’m going to go check out some of the real estate. See if some of the  _ property _ is worth a little more around here.”

 

“You’re so weird.”

 

“You love me, bitch.”

 

“Sure.”

 

Hope leaned over the chair to snatch Kaleb’s aviators from one of their bags and place it neatly on the bridge of her nose. “You can join me if you want.”

 

Penelope snorted. “Bye, you whore.”

 

Hope mockingly blew a kiss at her before wandering away to meet a blonde chick that was currently tanning on a chair from the other side of the pool. 

 

Penelope scanned the general vicinity around the pool. She didn’t recognize anyone that could be from Mystic Falls High; the only teens here were obviously from Salvatore. A tiny disappointment ran through her when she realized that the Ricky douche wasn’t here for her to punch. 

 

At least it would’ve kept her somewhat entertained. 

 

There were a several groups of guys and of girls, a few of which were only mildly attractive but none worth her time. 

 

Resigning herself to the next couple hours of boredom, Penelope reached into her bag to pull out a book before absently glancing back up to the other side of the pool. 

 

And then she saw  _ her. _

 

Perched on a tall, white lifeguard chair, she was without a question the most gorgeous girl Penelope’s ever seen. She was a beautiful brunette with her hair tied into a long braid, and thick, black sunglasses shielded her eyes. She wore the signature red one piece that displayed the white ‘Lifeguard’ in bold letters, just underneath a long v cut opening running down the middle of her breasts. Penelope bit her bottom lip as she stared at the generous amount of skin and curves exposed. And what the hell? Those were probably the sexiest legs known to mankind. 

 

_ Hot damn. _

 

This day just got a whole lot more interesting. 

 

An unknown tingling feeling rushed through her body, a feeling she’s never felt before. Penelope’s never felt more attracted to a person ever until now, and for some strange reason, it felt like there was this invisible force inside her, prodding and gnawing at her to go talk to this girl. 

 

The lifeguard looked around her age, which meant probably went to Salvatore, and in that moment, Penelope took back every negative statement she’s ever said about that school because she never knew they harbored a freaking  _ angel _ like her. 

 

It shouldn’t be this hard to breathe, right? Penelope’s flirted with many girls before. It shouldn’t be any different.

 

Except, everything felt different this time. 

 

_ Well shit, Park. Get your head out of your ass cause it’s time to get to work. _

 

She hastily whipped off her shirt, glad in her previously careless state that she picked out the black and sexy bikini and pulled down her shorts to show off her bikini bottoms. Penelope ruffled her hair, deliberately creating a disheveled state to add on to her look before slowly standing up from her chair. 

 

Making sure to act nonchalant, she pretending to absentmindedly take a stroll around the pool before stopping off to the side of the lifeguard chair. 

 

The lifeguard hadn’t noticed her yet, so Penelope took a moment to stare at that perfectly structured face. And wow, that perpetual pout on those lips was hella adorable. She cleared her throat. 

 

“Hey Sunshine. I usually don’t come here often, but I might start now that I know a very gorgeous girl can come down and save me at any time.”

 

The lifeguard peered down at her and took her sunglasses off to get a clearer look at Penelope. Penelope found herself swimming in captivating brown eyes. 

 

_ She can stare at those eyes all day. _

 

The other girl narrowed her eyes. “I’ve never seen you around here before.”

 

“That’s probably because I don’t go to Salvatore. What’s your name, Sunshine?” Penelope threw on that signature Park smirk. The brunette was clearly sizing her up; she had a little look of concentration like she was trying to solve a puzzle. 

 

“Not if you tell me yours first.”

 

“Penelope Park.”

 

Her smirked faltered slightly at the unimpressed look from the other girl. “Well,  _ Penelope Park, _ I don’t know who you think you are, but a charmer like you isn’t gonna to go anywhere with me.”

 

“I like a challenge.”

 

The lifeguard rolled her eyes. “Of course you’re one of those girls.”

 

Penelope frowned slightly and rested her right hand over her hip. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

Shifting the red rescue tube in her lap, the brunette replied. “It means that you’re one of those girls that only care about adding notches to their belts. I hate to break it to you, but find someone else to be your newest conquest because it’s a hard pass for me.”

 

“Okay wow. Already formed an opinion on me without getting to know me?” Penelope raised an eyebrow at her. The other girl just rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Listen, Sunshine, before you jump to the conclusion that I sleep with everything that breathes, I’ll have you know that I actually do have a sense of commitment.”

 

“Yeah right.”

 

“No I’m being serious. A pretty girl like you deserves more.”

 

Penelope wasn’t sure where that last part came from, but she wasn’t complaining when thought the other girl’s face softened for a second. However, it was very fleeting, so maybe she might’ve imagined it. Because the lifeguard’s face set back to annoyance. “Good one. You almost had me there.”

 

Penelope leaned her hand on the white lifeguard chair. She grinned when the brunette not so subtly inched away from her. “Is it so hard to believe that I can give one girl my undivided attention?”

 

The pretty lifeguard sighed in agitation before rotating her body towards Penelope and giving her a fiery glare. “I don’t _want_ your undivided attention. And honestly, yes, it is hard to believe that _you_ don’t come around to sleep around. I don’t even think you’ve ever been in a serious relationship before. So if you just came here looking for your newest “hangover Wednesday girl”, just know that I am not one of those dumb girls that you can fuck with. You might be able to get into everyone else’s pants during the summer, but that’s all you’re ever going to get because you don’t know the concept of love.”

 

The other girl finished her rant with a huff, then leaned back, waiting in anticipation for Penelope’s response. 

 

Even though she wasn’t one of the popular kids at Mystic Falls High, she’s always managed to get someone wrapped around her finger, from douchey jocks to dull blondes. The other girl was right; she’s never been in a serious relationship, never given two fucks about anyone she’s ever hooked up with. She’s always gotten bored really easily, and it wasn’t because she didn’t feel empathy for other people. Penelope has genuinely only interacted with two dimensional girls who only cared about surface things, like clothes or sex or social status. Girls who never had that much depth. 

 

And so in that moment, Penelope knew. 

 

This girl was exactly what she’s always wanted. 

 

The lifeguard’s been staring at her for a while now, feeling uneasy from the lack of response so Penelope put her smirk back on before she finally spoke. 

 

“Okay, bet.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I bet I can make you fall in love with me by the end of the summer.”

 

The lifeguard’s jaw dropped (probably at the audacity of the entire thing) and scoffed. “This isn’t some dumb movie, Park. This is real life. Get it through that obnoxiously thick skull of yours that I am not interested.”

 

“You’ll never know unless you try.”

 

“Maybe I don’t want to try at all.”

 

“Hmmmmmm...” Penelope looked her over, inwardly grinning at the the uncomfortable tension coming from the other girl. She’ll stop torturing the girl, for now. “Fine. Will you at least tell me your name, love?”

 

The girl narrowed her eyes and regarded her for several seconds before replying. “Josie. Josie Saltzman. Now I have a job to do so leave me alone.” She put her sunglasses back on and reverted back to her original position on her chair.

 

“Have a good day...Josie Saltzman.” The girl’s name rolled from her tongue like butter. “See you around.”

 

Penelope gave her a wink (even though the girl had started to purposely ignore her) and sauntered back to her spot. 

 

About an hour or so later, Jed and Kaleb finally got bored and announced they were ready to leave, and Hope returned back to them, bragging to her about getting some girl’s number but Penelope only nodded along without really listening. 

 

After their interaction, Penelope had completely forgot about her books in order to stare at the gorgeous girl on the high chair. The lifeguard garnered Penelope’s attention and she was going to make it her mission to get Josie Saltzman’s.

 

Making their exit from the pool, she peered over her shoulder one last time to glance at the lifeguard on duty. 

 

And so Penelope Park walked away from the community pool with only one thought in mind. 

 

_ I’m going to make that girl mine. _

 


	2. you're stuck with me

Persistence and effort.

 

Those were the two qualities that Josie Saltzman looked for in a person.

 

If anyone expected to get anything out of a relationship, those were two of the most important qualities. Because if she had to count on someone, trust someone, to be the person that she needs, that person needed to constantly prove to her that she was worth it.

 

That the relationship was worth it.

 

Because persistence and effort show loyalty. A person needed to be persistent in letting her know that she was worth it and then make the effort to show it. It may seem like she sounds demanding, but Josie’s not a demanding person.

 

She just wanted someone to be selfless to her for once.

 

After spending so much of her life catering to her dad, to her mom, to her sister, Josie became beyond tired of giving her all to every person. And after her last relationship epically failed, she realized that she hasn’t been selfish enough to want things from other people.

 

So yes, if Josie Saltzman was going to give another relationship a try, there had to be a special person out there who valued those two qualities as much as as did.

 

She just didn’t think that persistence and effort could be so annoying.

 

More specifically, in the annoying form of Penelope Park.

 

After their initial encounter on the first day of summer, Josie was sure that the other girl had received the message that she definitely wasn’t interested. She had experience in facing pretentious, womanizing dumbasses, and while she was a firm believer in not judging a book by its cover (who knows, she may be a hypocrite), Josie knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of their shit. It wasn’t something she was willing to experience again, so it gave her a justifiable reason why she really did not need someone else to worm their way into her already fractured heart.

 

Even if Park was hot.

 

And charming.

 

And also extremely hot.

 

But whatever. Josie returned to her usual shift the next day, ready to carry out her life guarding duties (and forget about a certain raven-haired beauty). She had a pretty good intuition to guess that other girl went to Mystic Falls High, and with that school being the outright rivals of Salvatore, people from the two schools did not mix. Some became friends, and some managed to begin relationships with people from the other school, but because of their rivalry, students from both campuses generally tried to avoid each other. The pool was on her side of town, meaning only Salvatore people bothered to come.

 

Which is why she’s surprised (and annoyed) that persistence and effort walked through the front gate next day. And the next day. And that day after that.

 

Josie should admire the other girl’s weird commitment to keep showing up, but her suspicions keep her more on her guard.

 

Penelope Park had shown up to the pool everyday since their first encounter and hadn’t once tried to talk to her since.  

 

She would be a little naive to think that Park has really stopped her advances on her and came just to enjoy the community’s less than impressive pool facility. No, Josie suspects that Penelope has shown up to only play mind games on her.

 

And dammit, it was working.

 

After Penelope showed up the past few days with a boy with dark hair (who looked somehow related to her), a dark skinned, muscular boy, and more recently, only with that girl with the auburn hair, today, Penelope Park had shown up all alone, sending Josie a wink that Josie pretended she didn’t see.

 

Occupying her gaze at the small children by the front edge of the pool, Josie couldn’t help but notice that Park had settled herself on one of the loungers right in the direction of her gaze.

 

Josie shifted on her chair, willing herself to just focus on the children but now Penelope Park just pulled out her sunscreen (yes the rub-on kind, how cliche of her) and was no doubt spreading the lotion to show off those tanned, delicious legs.

 

Her sunglasses have always been a grace for her; the dark lenses concealing the movement of her eyes so she could observe people without letting them know where she was staring at. Josie couldn’t have been more grateful to them as she watched Penelope spread the lotion across her built arms and that toned abdomen. Realizing that she was still staring at Park’s navy blue (and awfully distracting) bikini, Josie mentally slapped herself.

 

_FOCUS ON THE CHILDREN, SALTZMAN_

 

Shadowed hazel eyes caught her leering, and Josie hated that her cheeks began to heat up when Penelope shot a cheeky finger gun at her. The dark-haired distraction knows exactly what she’s doing. Unsurprised that Park had ulterior motives for that grossly exaggerated sunscreen show, Josie outwardly scoffed and turned her attention to the other end of the pool.

 

_She’s so annoying._

 

_Who does she think she is showing off her body like that? Nobody wants to see that._

 

_But then again, of course anybody would be lucky to have curves like those._

 

_Or have the chance to touch them._

 

_Josette Saltzman, you better STOP._

 

_She’s nothing but trouble._

 

“Would you mind if you helped?” a husky voice broke through her thoughts.

 

Peering down to her right side, Josie was met with an infuriating smirk from Penelope Park, who was holding up a bottle of rub-on sunscreen lotion.

 

“I think you’re going to be perfectly fine without my assistance.”

 

“Come on Sunshine. I need help with my back.”

 

“What happened to that other girl who usually comes here with you?”

 

Somehow, Penelope’s stupid smirk suddenly grew wider. “Jealous much?”

 

“That’s not going to work on me, Park.”

 

Penelope’s nose scrunched up slightly, followed by an amused eyebrow raise, and Josie’s so not going to repeat this, but it was arguably the most attractive thing she’s ever seen.

 

“I know a few other things that could probably work.”

 

Josie groaned and swiped her sunglasses off her face. “Can you just leave me alone?”

 

“Not until you help me with my back, love.” Penelope waggled the sunscreen bottle in emphasis. “Aren’t lifeguard’s supposed to _assist_ in water and pool safety? You should know, I mean, skincare is a kinda pretty important when you’re by the pool, and I would hate for you to feel bad for not doing your moral duty as the people’s protector from catastrophic poolside incidents, including when someone’s being burned from the sun’s harmful rays-”

 

Josie interrupted her in annoyance. “If I help you, will you leave me alone?”

 

“Not until you say pretty please.”

 

The lifeguard let out an exasperated sigh, done with the other girl’s antics. “ _Pretty please_?”

 

Penelope smirked and held the bottle out to her as Josie climbed down from her chair and snatched the sunscreen from her hands.

 

Suddenly aware of the rising pace of her beating heart, Josie swallowed and opened the cap. Penelope turned around, gathered her hair with careful hands, and swiped her hair off to the side, revealing the smooth skin of her back.

 

Josie lathered a little bit of lotion onto her hands and cringed when her hands made contact with Penelope’s skin, and _wow it was really soft. And warm._

 

She began applying more sunscreen on the other girl’s back, rubbing around the tanned expanse of skin in wide circles. Immersed in the process of spreading the lotion thoroughly over Penelope’s back, it felt as if her hands had a mind of their own, making sure she didn’t leave any inch of skin exposed and unexplored. Josie hated the secret part of her that was enjoying this way too much.

 

When she noticed the obnoxious smirk from the corner of Penelope’s lips, Josie was reminded that this was nothing but a way for the other girl to get a rise out of her, so she quickly pulled her hands away. “Done.”

 

As soon as Penelope turned back around, Josie closed the cap and shoved the bottle into Park’s hands.

 

“Now leave me alone.”

 

The lifeguard hurriedly climbed back onto her chair and placed the sunglasses on her face.

 

“Thanks Sunshine.”

 

“Don’t mention it.”

 

With a satisfied grin, Penelope sent her a two finger salute, and then casually strolled along the edge of the pool. She made her way around shallow end before slowly dipping one foot after another into the water.  

 

Josie focused her attention onto a couple of younger boys playing roughly on the other side, but couldn’t help but keep an eye on Park, who was swimming laps around the pool.

 

Penelope Park was the epitome of a teenage dream. With an alluring beauty paired with a pompous attitude and charisma that was off the charts, the girl practically screamed stupidly hot mischief, someone unlike anyone she’s known at Salvatore. Josie would be lying if she said she wasn’t tempted.

 

But people like Penelope Park are dangerous. They never stuck around and never lasted.

 

She couldn’t keep doing this to herself. Getting emotionally attached to anyone who even showed the slightest interest in her. And because she couldn’t help herself, Josie always let them in; she became so reckless that she’d end up regretting it later on.

 

She cared too much and it was kind of a problem.

 

Josie vowed that she was never going to give another person a chance to cause more damage to her heart. She’s been hurt too many times.

 

So as she watched Penelope slowly rise out of the pool like a goddamn swimwear model, curly dark locks dripping wet, Josie stared in quiet longing at the girl that was an immediate threat to her sanity.

 

\--

 

“Leaving so soon?”

 

Josie rolled her eyes at Penelope’s sudden appearance and _how does she always do that?_

 

_It’s like she appears out of smoke._

 

“My shift just ended. Enjoy the rest of your day, Park.”

 

She turned around, prepared to bolt out of there before the other girl could follow her but stopped once Penelope’s mouth opened again.

 

“I’ll try, but it’s not going to be as fun without you, Jo Jo.”

 

Josie huffed, flipping back around to march up to the other girl. “Don’t call me that.”

 

Penelope’s face split into a Cheshire grin. “Jo Jo it is then.”

 

“Stop calling me that.”

 

“Sorry Saltzman. Once I’ve found a nickname, I’m afraid you’re going to be stuck with it.”

 

“Maybe you should go back to hanging with your delinquent friends. That way you can stop chasing after lost causes and I can go back to having a peaceful environment for my job.”

 

“Too bad, _Jo Jo._ You’re stuck with me.”

 

Josie exhaled in frustration. “You’re so-just...ugh. See you never Park.”

 

“Bye Jo Jo.”

 

Josie spun around on her heel, determined to make her exit from the pool as quick as possible while feeling Penelope’s eyes linger on her as she leaves. And while Penelope Park was incredibly dense and infuriating, Josie felt this tiny feeling that it could be different this time around.

 

That Penelope was going to stick around for a while.

 

She just had no fucking clue on how this will end.

 


	3. that pretty face of yours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some posie tension ;)

“Okay, P. Who’s the girl?”

 

“Uh-ah, what?” Penelope stopped in her tracks on the sidewalk, attempting to act as confused as possible. Her cousin and her were currently on their usual walk to the pool, planning on meeting Kaleb there. Hope bailed out on them at the last minute, saying something about how she met her future wife (who’s, not surprisingly, _another_ blonde) at the library.

 

That bitch.

 

Jed rolled his eyes. “Don’t play dumb with me, Pen. Who is it?”

 

“What makes you think there is a girl?”

 

“This is the eleventh day in a row that you’re going to the pool, which is super weird considering that a week ago, you were thoroughly convinced that the water was a home to every known variation of an STD-”

 

“And it’s super weird that you’ve been counting.” Penelope interrupted, her irritation evident at her cousin’s nosiness.

 

“Girl. You literally do nothing but sit on your ass all day when we go there.”

 

“That’s not true! I like to swim a few laps around the pool!” She protested. “Maybe I’ll join you today.”

 

Jed held his hands up in mock surrender. “I don’t know....I don’t want you catching an STD or something when you touch the water for the first time.”

 

“Fuck off, J.”

 

“Not until you tell me who the unlucky lady is.”

 

She swatted at the back of Jed’s head and he laughed as he ducked. “Excuse you, but I’m actually making some progress here. Great things take time and patience.”

 

“Great things?” He raised an eyebrow. “What are you trying to get out of this? Are you looking for a hookup or something more?”

Penelope hesitated. Never before has she been so unsure about her true intentions because she’s always had something to set her sights on, and she _always_ got what she wanted. And she never over thought anything when it came to a girl, only because it was nothing more than just sex. If she wants to get technical, she’s had several girlfriends, but in all honesty, they’ve never been anything but pointless flings that never stuck around. They were never interested in commitment so Penelope was never interested as well. Serious relationships were sort of like a myth to her.

 

Yet in the few banters she’s exchanged with Josie, this girl made her feel things that was completely foreign to her. The thrill, the chase. It was exhilarating.

 

It made her feel alive.

 

She thought carefully about her answer before replying. “It’s different this time around.”

 

Realizing that he wasn’t going to get more out of his cousin, he wisely decided against asking more about her motives, but he wasn’t going to let her get away with leaving him completely in the dark. Even though Penelope did trust him, she liked to keep things more personal things to herself, doing her best to always avoid conversations about her true feelings. Forcing Penelope to talk to him was only just tough love, and he knew if she never opened up to him, she would eventually cower into herself, all alone.

 

He knows from experience.

 

When Penelope made a move to start walking, he grabbed onto her arm. “You know you can tell me anything right? You always tell me about the girls you like, and it’s fine if you don’t wanna tell me too much about this one but at least tell me who it is.” He challenged Penelope’s stare, imploring her to break her walls back down.

 

“Her name is Josie.” She simply said. She shrugged her arm out of Jed’s grip and started off without him.

* * *

 

Kaleb was standing on the other side of the front gate when they got there. Once Penelope and Jed entered, he motioned some boy with a distinguishable afro to come over to greet them.

 

“Jed, Peez, I want you to meet my boy, MG.” Kaleb introduced as the other boy came to a halt beside him.

 

“What’s up dude.”

 

“Hi.” Penelope gave him her signature turtle smile.  

 

“Hey guys.” MG smiled brightly and Penelope’s a little unnerved that someone was physically capable of grinning that wide. He seems like a nice enough guy though.

 

MG spun a basketball in his hands. “I brought this if y'all wanna go play some poolside basketball? My friend’s the lifeguard and she lets me take out the hoop from the shed.”

 

_He knows Josie?_

 

Penelope shook her head in denial. There were several lifeguards at different shifts so he probably doesn’t. She really needs to stop thinking about Josie every five seconds.

 

“Sure.” Jed and MG slapped hands and MG quickly jogged away to go retrieve the hoop.

 

Kaleb bumped her shoulder with his own. “Are you gonna play?”

 

Penelope opened her mouth to refuse, she wasn’t one for poolside ball games, but she knew that she’d be bored and would spend her time watching Josie like a creep when the lifeguard starts her shift. She smiled. “I guess I’d be up for a round or so.”

 

She winces slightly when Kaleb pats her on the back too hard for her liking, but nonetheless couldn’t help the small grin that broadens on her face. “There you go Peez! Go put your stuff somewhere.”

 

Penelope flashed him a playful eyeroll and Jed snickered as they made their way over to their loungers. “Should we get you tested next week to see if you contracted herpes from the deep end?”

 

“You’re so funny.” Penelope deadpanned. “And that’s not how you get herpes, J.”

 

Jed snickered again in reply.

 

As soon as the Park cousins laid their towels on their chairs, they quickly stripped down to their swimwear and leisurely submerged themselves into the pool.

 

Moments later, MG returned carrying the hoop and stand, placing it in the far left corner of the swimming pool.

 

The group began playing two on two basketball, taking turns to see who can make the most shots and Penelope wouldn’t dare to admit it, but she was enjoying it considerably. Jed ditched her to team up with Kaleb, leaving her to team with MG, but the guy was ridiculously funny and a total nerd.

 

Their athleticism was outmatched by Jed and Kaleb (in reality Penelope’s horrible shooting form greatly hindered their team), but Penelope wasn’t sore about it when they were losing by too much to count. She argued against MG’s constant teasing at her lack of basketball skills, saying that shooting buckets while submerged in three feet of water didn’t count as real basketball therefore she could maintain some of her dignity.

 

They were bickering about which female superhero was the best of all time when Jed spoke.

 

“Hey MG, is that your lifeguard friend over there?”

 

Three heads turned to where Jed was pointing at, and Penelope froze as she saw Josie coming through the front gate with her regular red suit on and her sunglasses propped up on her forehead, strolling to the lifeguard chair to take her usual shift.

 

“Yep, that’s her. Hey Josie!” MG called out and waved. Josie smiled warmly at MG and waved back before her eyes widened in surprise when they landed on Penelope.

 

“She’s kinda fine.” Kaleb acknowledged and Penelope inwardly scoffed at his unsubtle leering.

 

“Wait a minute.” Jed furrowed his eyebrows and craned his head back to Penelope. “That’s _the_ Josie?”

 

“....Yes.”

 

She glared at her cousin, who loudly bursted out laughing. He leaned over to her and kept his voice low. “Damn, P. Why couldn’t you tell me that you have eyes for the hot lifeguard?”

 

“Shut _up_ , Jed. Let’s just play.” Penelope seized the ball from his hands.

As the game progressed, Penelope continually found herself becoming more and more self conscious about her movements, taking the game more seriously than before and checking for a reaction from Josie after every shot she shoots. Jed seemed to notice her change in behavior and she had to restrain herself from shooting the ball at his head whenever he made kissy faces at her each time she sent glances towards the lifeguard chair.  

 

It didn’t seem like she was doing much to capture Josie’s attention however, because the pretty lifeguard was oblivious and faced in the opposite direction.

 

After watching her ball tip over the rim of the hoop, Penelope briefly turned around to lay her eyes on Josie only to discover that she wasn’t sitting on her chair. Looking around, she scanned the other side of the pool hoping to find the attractive brunette, eventually locating the distinctive red lifeguard suit by the front corner of the outdoor facility.

 

With sunglasses still propped up on her forehead, Josie’s arms were crossed while her face was set into a pouty frown. She was giving three middle school boys a quiet scolding, and Penelope shivered because the whole authoritarian attitude Josie was portraying was hot.

 

Of course, she wouldn’t be a gayest dumbass in the world without the _dumb_ part.

 

“Penelope watch out!”

 

“Ow-fuck!”

 

Her head flung back and Penelope yelped, and she could feel her feet plant themselves at the bottom of the pool, grateful that they were not on the deep end. Her hands shot up to where the ball came in contact with her face. She grimaced at the touch and looked down to see her hand covered in her blood, and she was pretty sure her nose was throbbing like a tomato. Feeling her eyes tearing up, she squeezed her eyes shut and brought her right hand to her face.  

 

The boys splashed over to her, MG reaching her first. “Holy shit, Penelope! Are you okay? Do you need help getting out here?”

 

Penelope waved them off. “No, no, I’m okay. I’m just need to go to the bathroom.” She wadded her way out of the pool as quickly as possible, her hands staying above her nose while gently wiping the blood off her face. She tried to avoid looking in Josie’s direction, not wanting the other girl to see her like this as she took the brisk, tortuous walk to the bathroom adjacent to the pool.

 

Once she's managed to stop the bleeding and finish cleaning all of the blood off her face, she winced as she came back outside. Her return goes unnoticed; the boys had continued their game, seemingly forgetting about Penelope’s unfortunate mishap. Her face still hurt like hell no thanks to one of them, and they’re so lucky that there wasn’t going to be a bruise leftover, yet her nose was throbbing and a bright shade of red had formed across her face.

 

Wallowing in her bruised face (and pride), Penelope had started to make her way to her lounger when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

 

Rotating around, she was completely surprised to find Josie standing there, one hand on her hip and the other holding on a ice bag. Josie smirked. “You know. You should really do a better job at paying attention. You don’t wanna mess up that pretty face of yours. ”

 

Penelope cleared her throat, she looked down, trying to hide the blush that formed on her face. Obviously, Josie knew exactly why she was distracted. “Maybe I should. But it’s kinda hard when my attention is focusing on...other things. ” She looked back up with a cheesy grin on her face.

 

Now it was Josie’s turn to blush, she caught her bottom lip between her teeth, clearly debating something on her conscious. After a little bit of contemplating, she let out a light hearted chortle. “Come on.”

 

Josie’s hand latched onto Penelope’s wrist, tugging her along to Penelope’s lounger and Penelope’s really trying not to pay attention to the way her wrist tingles at Josie’s gentle grasp.

 

Or the proximity of Josie’s body close enough to where Penelope could smell her vanilla scented sunscreen.

 

Or how her heart goes _whoosh_ when Josie’s grip tightens when they’re passing through a tangled mess of kids.

 

“Sit.” Josie orders, letting go of Penelope’s wrist once they get to Penelope’s lounger and takes a seat next to her.

 

Penelope chuckles. “Yes ma’am.”

 

She sits and shifts her body towards Josie.

 

“Don’t move.”

 

Penelope looks expectantly at the ice pack in Josie’s hand as Josie brings the ice up to her face to gently press the coldness into her bruised right cheek, slowly making her way to the middle of Penelope’s face. Penelope bites her bottom lip to keep herself from smiling as she stares back at Josie’s adorable look of concentration.

 

When the coldness came in contact with Penelope’s nose, she winced. Quickly, Josie pulled back worriedly. “Am I hurting you?”

 

Penelope gave her a soft smile of reassurance. “No, you’re doing okay.” She grabbed onto Josie’s hand and directed the ice pack back onto her face.

 

They stayed like that for several minutes, Josie taking care of Penelope and Penelope soaking in beauty of the girl right in front of her. There was something painfully intimate about their positions right now, leaving Penelope craving for more. More anything with Josie.

 

Unable to keep this nervous tension between them, Josie redirected the ice pack to her cheek, deliberately avoiding eye contact with her. “I think your brother was the one that hit you.”

 

“Cousin. And I’m going to kill him.”

 

Josie giggled and brought the ice down. “Well let’s get you all fixed up before you go off into battle again.”

 

“Again?”

 

“Yeah. Although it’s kinda sad, losing to a basketball. Basketball: One, Penelope: Zero.”

 

“Oh shut it.” Penelope pouted and Josie continued to giggle in the most adorable way possible.

 

Penelope found herself swimming in those big, brown eyes.

 

“You know I could’ve done this part myself.”

 

As soon as those words escape her, Penelope curses herself for being so stupid because of course she finds a way to ruin their moment. But she was just so confused as to why Josie was helping her when the other girl was adamant about keeping a wall between them. She expects Josie to scoff at her for being ungrateful, throw the ice pack down at her, and storm away but she stays. Josie swallows, looks away for a few seconds, before she makes eye contact again.

 

“I know.”

 

Josie doesn’t want to offer anymore information, and Penelope doesn’t want to push any further and ruin this, so Penelope provides her with a turtle smile (through her pain).

 

The other girl hands her the ice pack and clears her throat.

 

“I have to go back to my shift, but try not to take another basketball to the face okay?”

 

Josie backed away smiling, before walking away.

 

“Okay.” She replies, her voice small. Penelope clutches onto the ice pack, staring after the beautiful brunette.

 

Maybe she won’t kill Jed after all.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope ya'll liked it! the next chapter should be fun...
> 
> catch me on twitter! @selfishpenelope

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos to us are what punching Rafael is to Penelope and Salvatore blondes are to Hope. They fuel our will to live.
> 
> Also, go shower @selfishpenelope with the love and adoration and compliments she deserves!


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